‘From the Ashes’ mural now a symbol of ‘hope’ in burned Altadena neighborhood

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Los Angeles-based artist Robert Vargas unveiled his mural for Altadena Saturday morning titled “From the Ashes.”

The mural, painted on the side of longstanding Altadena restaurant Fair Oaks Burger, attracted hundreds of people gathered at the Altadena eatery.

They watched Vargas paint the last details of his piece, just minutes before its unveiling. Some were in line for the free, weekly farmer’s market in Fair Oaks Burger’s parking lot.

“From the Ashes” shows a young girl holding a flower in one hand and a teddy bear in the other wearing a shirt that says “HOME.”

The young girl is wearing a shirt filled with a mélange of characteristics that are uniquely “Altadena,” from the horses that could be seen walking around neighborhoods, to the jersey of L.A. Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson, who lived in the area.

It also pays tribute to the city’s everyday heroes: first responders, construction workers, Janet and Christy Lee, owners of Fair Oaks Burger, a basket of produce, symbolizing Food for Health’s free farmer’s market, and neighbors sharing an embrace.

Janet Lee, of Fair Oaks Burger, said she was “shocked” to see her and her sister’s face on the mural.

“I hope that people look at [the mural] and see themselves in it,” said Janet.

Similarly, Ann Byrd views the mural as symbolic of “hope and joy.”

“I see the different eyes and I know there’s hope,” said Byrd, who’s lived in Altadena since the 1960s and lost her home in the Eaton fire.

Byrd was joined by Monique Yamaguchi, who’s working with Byrd on rebuilding her home. She sees the young girl at the center of the mural as representative of “[the] joy and everything that’s still to come.”

The artist, well-known for his large-scale mural of Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani in Little Tokyo, uses his art as a vehicle for telling stories about the communities he paints in. He speaks with residents to inform his artistic process, as a way of sketching out the mural in his mind.

“There’s so many stories that were told to me. One way I thought of embedding those stories into this wall was — if you imagine the figure that’s in the center, that’s kind of like this house, and all of these stories that I heard throughout the last couple of days are in this house,” Vargas explained.

Vargas had been painting since Wednesday morning, even working through the night before its unveiling. Over the past three days, many Altadena residents stopped by the mural, with some even bringing Vargas food, to tell him about their stories.

“The mural has brought [residents] back, and I’m so glad to see other people come here to support the mural. But really, underneath it all, this is to support the community of Altadena,” Vargas said.

Vargas then signed the mural, symbolically handing it over to the community.

“Altadena, it is now yours,” Vargas proclaimed.